Underwater

Robotics
Challenges
2023 Technical Guide
About UWR:
Underwater Robotics Challenges is a series of annual Underwater Robotics and Artificial
Intelligence Challenges that occur in the MENA Region powered by the Underwater
Robotics Research Center.

The UWR Challenges were launched to creatively address and develop innovative ideas that
make a difference! With the technological development and the emergence of many
problems that need to be solved by using the technology of robots, marine technology, and
artificial intelligence, such as monitoring and following-up water and sea pollution. As well as
entertainment and marine tourism and the pursuit of fish and coral reefs.

Underwater Robotics Challenges include a series of challenges held at the local, regional,
and international levels, in each challenge we aim to encourage new features and
opportunities to share your design and ideas with the ocean.

Challenges:
1. ROV Challenge

Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle (ROV) Challenge is an underwater robotics

challenge that aims to teach and creatively apply skills to solve real-world problems
and strengthen critical thinking abilities, collaboration, entrepreneurship, and
innovation in marine science by building Remotely Operated underwater Vehicles.
The ROV Challenge has two main categories as follows:

a. Seniors Category is for undergraduate and postgraduate students with no

restrictions on age or technical and non-technical levels. In this category,
ROV (Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle) is required to be built by the
team members to make specified simulated tasks underwater with specific
scientific and engineering concepts.

b. Juniors Category is for high school students with no restrictions on age or

technical and non-technical levels. In this category, ROV (Remotely Operated
underwater Vehicle) is required to be built by the team members to make
specified simulated tasks, with less complexity than the seniors’ teams,
underwater with specific scientific and engineering concepts

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2. AUV Challenge

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Challenge (AUV) is an underwater robotics

challenge that aims to push the applicants towards the latest technologies and
develop their skills in underwater robotics by applying them in real-life simulated
missions to provide modern solutions for the marine field using Autonomous
Underwater Vehicles. This challenge has one category as follows:

a. Seniors Category is for undergraduate and postgraduate students with no

restrictions on age or technical and non-technical level. In this category, AUV
(Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) is required to be built by the team
members to make specified simulated tasks underwater with specific scientific
and engineering concepts.

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Context:
The Mediterranean basin in northern Egypt comprises five northern lakes arranged from
west to east as Mariout, Idku, Burlus, Manzla, and Bardawil. These lakes represent great
economic importance as their production of fish is more than 75% of Egypt's total production.
However, they suffer major problems, such as degradation; habitat loss; pollution as they
receive great amounts of industrial, municipal, and agricultural wastewater without treatment;
and the spread of aquatic plants.

The development of the Egyptian lakes is one of the national projects that complement the
process of economic development. In May 2017, the national project for the development of
natural lakes was launched at a cost of 100 billion pounds, with the aim of clearing lakes and
removing encroachments to develop the northern lakes and increase Egypt's production of
fish. This project helped increase fish production, bringing the total fish production to 171.5
thousand tons in 2015, and the increase continued to reach 220,7 thousand tons in 2019.

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Theme:
In this year’s version of the UWR Challenges, underwater robots will be tasked with assisting
in the development, monitoring, and maintenance of Egypt’s northern lakes. Utilizing marine
technology in similar projects can result in achieving better outcomes with higher efficiency
by relying on more accurate data and direct access to these water bodies.

As per the growing demand for qualified scientists and engineers, UWR Challenges are
developed to provide the new engineering generation with new challenges with this class of
underwater technology and innovation for the science, inspection, and research world.
Aligning these challenges with national problems is intended to create further opportunities
and result in actual development for the marine technology sector in Egypt.

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Mission Background:
Each team will be required to use their robot to perform an Underwater Mission consisting of
several tasks that mimic different operations needed to develop, maintain, or monitor the
Egyptian Northern Lakes. These tasks are built to address the following areas.

1. Pollution
The water quality and ecosystems in the Egyptian Northern lakes are continuously
declining as a result of the massive amounts of agricultural drainage, municipal
sewage, and industrial wastewater which enrich with many pollutants, particularly
heavy metals. The final destination for both natural and anthropogenic elements
produced or derived from the environment is lake sediments, causing a considerable
negative ecological impact. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy is used to evaluate the
heavy metal concentrations of the collected water and sediment samples. The
distribution and transportation of heavy metals in connection to aquacultural health
have been the focus of numerous projects. In this task, underwater robots will be
used for dynamic and continuous monitoring of these pollution levels across the
lakes.

2. Marine life
Overfishing has been identified as the most widespread local threat to fisheries in
northern lakes. It is a process that occurs when fishing activities lead to lower levels
of fish stocks below the acceptable level. This process ultimately depletes fish
resources and potentially extinct a number of fish varieties exposed to this process.
The dramatic changes in ecosystems resulting from the overfishing process lead to a
loss of ecosystem balance and the emergence of other species of marine organisms,
which may prevent the target species in the fishing process from re-emerging, known
as the ecosystem transformation process. In this task, underwater robots will be used
to monitor and report changes in fish populations in the lakes.

3. Mapping
Mapping of lakes reveals a wealth of data for lake management and planning
requirements. Geographic information systems (GIS) have emerged as a pivotal
technology in the scientific study and management of renewable natural resources.
GIS can help with extrapolation from point and line transect surveys to whole lake
estimates of total biomass or production. GIS can also be effective in organizing
multispatial data sets to enable modeling and visualization of spatial trends. In this
task, underwater robots will be used to install, inspect, and maintain underwater lake
sensing equipment.

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Main Technical Design Aspects:
1. For the Seniors Category, vehicles are restricted to 90 cm in diameter and 35 kg in
weight, vehicles above these limits will not be allowed to compete in the Underwater
Mission.
2. For Juniors Category, vehicles are restricted to 80 cm in diameter and to 30 kg in
weight, vehicles above these limits will not be allowed to compete in the Underwater
Mission.
3. Any modifications on the vehicles after the size and weight measurements are not
allowed.
4. Pneumatics and hydraulics are permitted.
5. Lasers are permitted.
6. A camera is required in the main vehicle.
7. It is not allowed to use multiple vehicles, but it is allowed to use any additional device
to help the vehicle in performing the mission.
8. The tether of additional devices should be hardly attached to the tether of the main
vehicle.
9. The additional devices and the tether will be considered in the size and weight check.
10. Each team will be required to submit design documents for the main vehicle,
additional devices, and their SIDs.